Some Historical and Political 
Aspects of the Government 
of Porto Rico 



By 

PEDRO CAPO-RODRIGUEZ 



Reprinted from The Hispanic American Historical Review, 
Vol. II, No. 4, November, 1919 



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Reprinted from The Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. II, No. 4, November, 1919 



SOME HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF THE 
GOVERNMENT OF PORTO RICO 

i 

UNDER THE RULE OF SPAIN 

While it may be said with no small degree of accuracy and 
justice that the government of Porto Rico under Spanish rule, 
founded as it was upon the medieval and shortsighted colonial 
policy of Spain, never was, in substance, anything more than 
a military regime for the purpose of maintaining Spanish domi- 
nation over the Island, and subjecting the native inhabitants 
to a greedy, cruel, and reckless system of exploitation, general 
exclusion, and debasement; yet there is no doubt that from the 
latter part of the nineteenth century Spain endeavored to give 
to the government of the Island a semblance, at least, of a civil 
character in harmony with Spanish institutions and the con- 
ceptions of colonial administration and prejudices prevailing in 
Spain. Previous to that time, however, the Island was strictly 
managed as a military post. At first the governors general were 
not assigned any military titles, although their powers and 
authority extended over all the military and naval forces stationed 
in the Island and, as a matter of fact, they were practically 
absolute military rulers; later, however, they began to assume 
military titles until, finally, the governor general came to be a 

543 



544 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW 

lieutenant general of the army and was known also as the captain 
general of the Island. 1 

It would be quite interesting to follow step by step the varying 
historical aspects of the early government of Porto Rico under 
Spanish rule up to the comparatively recent time when it began 
to assume a civil character somewhat in harmony with the grow- 
ing necessities of the Island and the pressing demands of its 
inhabitants. Nor is the history of the political evolutions which 
Porto Rico underwent in the last century lacking in human 
interest and positive value to the American student of colonial 
development in the New World. In this connection it may be 
said in passing, that Spain went just as far as was possible, but 
could not, however, keep up with the times. While there were, 
undoubtedly, some Spanish statesmen, like Pi y Margall and 
Moret, for instance, who could clearly appreciate the situation, 
the immense majority of the Spanish legislators and statesmen 
of that tune seemed always quite unable to realize the unjustifi- 
able blunders of the mistaken policy of Spain in the management 
of its enlightened colonies of this hemisphere; and it must be, 
perhaps mainly for this reason at least that these colonies had 
to be forever separated from their mother country. It was 
because Spain could not maintain its superiority over Porto 
Rico and Cuba that Spanish rule there became obnoxious, oppres- 
sive, barbarous, and cruel. Spain could not solve the Cuban 
and Porto Rican problems better than the progressive natives 
of those Islands could, and for that reason its position there 
was almost ridiculous and certainly false. There was no reason 
why Spain should be there. It could claim no superiority and 
therefore the excuse for Spanish colonial claims in Porto Rico 
had no moral foundation. We will not, however, attempt to 
go into these matters, as they lie beyond the scope of this article. 

1 Of the 118 Spaniards who were vested with the royal governing prerogative 
all but 3 of the last 87 were designated by military titles of high rank. From the 
beginning of the last century all the governors general had the military rank of 
field marshal or lieutenant general, and it was provided by royal order that in 
case of extraordinary vacancy, the senior military officer present should tempo- 
rarily succeed to the vacant governorship. Report of the Military Governor of 
Porto Rico, in House Doc. No. 2, 56th Cong., 2nd Sess., 1900-1901, xiv, 31 el seq. 

am 

Author 
HAY I 1823 



THE GOVERNMENT OF POBTO RICO 545 

Their study, however, may be quite useful to the American 
statesman and legislator who honestly aspires to understand 
and help to solve the Porto Rican problem. 

In order to complete this brief historical sketch of the govern- 
ment of Porto Rico previous to the granting of the so-called 
autonomia in 1897, it may be said that for over three centuries 
Porto Rico was governed, as we have seen, as a military post, 
and that the governor, as the royal representative, was the 
source of all power and authority in the Island. Up to 1840 
the towns were practically managed by army officers, whose duty 
it was to report directly to the captain general of the Island. 
From that time until 1870 the policy was gradually adopted of 
giving to the larger municipalities a local government admin- 
istered by civilians appointed by the governor and chosen, as 
a rule, from among the natives of Spain residing in the Island. 2 

Yielding to the pressure of the Cuban revolution of 1868 which 
ended in the agreement of El Zanj6n of 1878, which Spain so 
recklessly dishonored, and in response, perhaps, to the more 
liberal tendencies which had their inception in the Spanish revo- 
lution of September, 1868, Porto Rico was made a Spanish 
province in 1870 with an adequate representation in the Spanish 
parliament, a Provincial Assembly or Diputacion Provincial, as 
it was called, and a Provincial Committee, and some other pro- 
visions which made the government of the Island somewhat 
more liberal and civil in character. It is to be noticed, however, 
that the jurisdiction and powers of all these bodies in charge 
of the administration of the public interests and government 
of the Island were practically subordinated to the will of the 
governor general, while in special cases the whole matter could 
be taken to the central government in Spain. It must not be 
forgotten, on the other hand, that from 1870 up to the time of 

s For an interesting account of the history and government of Porto Rico as 
well as of the administration of justice and power of the clergy in the Island, 
previous to the nineteenth century, see Inigo Abbad, Historia . . . dela 
Ida de San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico (Madrid, 1788). This work was repub- 
lished a century later by Jose Julian Acosta, in San Juan, Porto Rico. A fairly 
accurate statement wholly based upon Abbad's account may be found in the 
Report of the Military Governor, ut supra, pp. 65-67. 



546 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW 

the cession of the Island by Spain to the United States, the 
status of Porto Rico was that of a Spanish province, exactly 
the same as that of any other province of Spain, and that by 
virtue of the Spanish Constitution, which was partially in force 
in the Island, its inhabitants were always considered as Spaniards, 
that is to say, as subjects or citizens of Spain. 3 

It is at this period of Porto Rican history that we see the most 
wonderful display of Porto Rican political ability and character. 
And here involuntarily comes to one's memory the names of 
such illustrious Porto Ricans as Baldorioty de Castro, Acosta, 
Blanco, Cintr6n, Quifiones, Padial, whose vigorous and convincing 
patriotism and energetic appeals in the Spanish Parliament, 
commanded the respect and admiration of even their bitterest 
opponents. It was during this period and through the parlia- 
mentary efforts of these Porto Ricans, that the last traces of 
slavery were forever wiped out of the Island, and the central 
government began to assume a more liberal policy towards the 
Island. 

Soon, however, the activities of the disgraceful institution of 
the Volunlarios, or the Spanish militia — in reality merely an 
armed political party composed of the Peninsular or native 
Spaniards residing in the Island, whose main purpose was to 
oppose the native Porto Ricans, and which was to play so impor- 
tant a role in the destinies of Porto Rico — together with the 
unwarrantable prejudices and partisanship of the Spanish govern- 
ors who came to be real instruments of the Voluntarios, rendered 
practically useless, and even harmful, the new policy of the 
central government. Then followed a period of persecution and 
mismanagement which reached its most odious and abominable 
stage, with the Componte, in 1887, under the hateful General 
Palacios. Ten years later, due to a combination of events, includ- 
ing the Cuban War of Independence of 1895-1898, the strong 

3 Constitutional unity was attained by a royal decree of November 25, 1898. 
See translation of this decree in U. S. Foreign Relations, 1897, pp. 618-619. The 
Spanish original will be found in Gaceta de Madrid, November 26, 1897. For a 
comprehensive account of the laws regulating the government of Porto Rico under 
Spain, see Report of the Military Governor, ut supra; pp. 239-261. 



THE GOVERNMENT OF PORTO RICO 547 

and continued pressure of the United States upon the govern- 
ment of Spain, which culminated in the Spanish-American War, 
the representations of a handful of illustrious Porto Ricans 
representing the autonomist party headed by Munoz Rivera, 
and the fear perhaps of a Porto Rican uprising unless greater 
justice were granted to the Island, the cabinet of Sefior Sagasta 
resolved that self-government should be given to Porto Rico. 
This was accordingly bestowed by a royal decree of November 
25, 1917, signed by Maria Cristina, as queen regent of the king- 
dom, in the name of her son, the present king, Don Alfonso XIII. 4 
It would be quite impracticable to attempt a complete 
review of all the important provisions of this decree, which 
is, moreover, quite lengthy and foreign to American law. It 
may be said, however, that the said decree contained provisions 
for an insular parliament composed of two chambers, equal in 
power, called the Chamber of Representatives and the Council 
of Administration. The power to legislate on colonial affairs, 
as provided by law, was to be deposited in the insular chambers 
with the governor general. The governor was to be the repre- 
sentative of the central government, and was to have supreme 
control and power. The Council of Administration was to con- 
sist of fifteen members, eight of whom, when duly qualified 
therefor, were to be elected by the qualified voters of the Island, 
and the other seven were to be appointed by the king and, at 
his request, by the governor general from certain specified persons 
who, according to the decree, were to be qualified for such appoint- 
ment and no others. The appointment of the seven councillors 
nominated by the crown were to be made by special decree in 
which their qualifications were to be stated, and they were to 
hold office for life. The elective councillors were to be renewed 
by halves, every five years, and whenever the governor should, 
according to parliamentary procedure, dissolve the legislature, 
half or all the elective councillors were to go out of office. ' The 

4 The basis of this famous decree was a law of reforms passed by the Spanish 
Cortes in 1895. A complete translation of the decree will be found in U. S. Foreign 
Relations, 1898, pp. 636-644. The Spanish original will be found in Gaceta de 
Madrid, November 27, 1897. 



."IS THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Chamber of Representatives was to consist of duly qualified 
members appointed by electoral boards in the proportions of 
one to every twenty-five thousand inhabitants. The repre- 
sentatives were to hold office for five years and might be reelected 
indefinitely. 

By the adaptation of the Spanish electoral law of 1890 to 
Porto Rico, 6 the suffrage was extended to all male Porto Ricans, 
who as already noted were considered as Spaniards, over twenty- 
five years of age, in the full enjoyment of their civil rights and 
residents of a municipality for two years. The exceptions were 
those who had forfeited their political rights, those convicted of 
crime, bankrupts or insolvents not discharged according to law, 
delinquent tax payers, paupers, and mendicants. There was to 
be an electoral registration determining the right to vote. 

The chambers were to meet regularly every year, but in accord- 
ance with the parliamentary system, which was thereby estab- 
lished in the Island, it was the privilege of the king and of the 
governor in the king's name to convene, suspend, or close their 
sessions, and to dissolve separately or simultaneously the Chamber 
of Representatives and the Council of Administration with the 
obligation to reconvene or hold new elections within three months. 
The initiative and proposal of colonial legislation was vested in 
the governor general through his secretaries, as well as in the 
two chambers. Colonial laws requiring appropriations of public 
moneys were first to be submitted to the Chamber of Repre- 
sentatives for their approval. All the laws passed by the colonial 
legislature had to be submitted to the governor general for his 
approval and promulgation, and whenever in his judgment the 
"interests of the nation" were threatened by colonial statutes, 
he was to consult the central government before the presentation 
of the bills. If the bill were introduced by an individual member 
of the parliament, the colonial government was to postpone all 
discussion of the same until the central government had expressed 
its opinion. In both cases any correspondence between the two 

6 For a translation of the royal decree and general provisions relating to this 
subject see U. S. Foreign Relations, 1898, pp. 620-631. The Spanish original will 
be found in Gaceta de Madrid, November 26, 1897. 



THE GOVERNMENT OF POKTO EICO 549 

governments was to be forwarded to the chambers and published 
in the official bulletin. 

The powers of the insular parliament extended to all such 
matters which had not been specifically reserved to the cortes 
of Spain or to the central government. In this sense, and with 
no thought of curtailing its powers, the insular chambers could 
legislate upon all matters pertaining to the Departments of 
Pardons, Justice, State, Treasury and Public Works, Education, 
and Agriculture. The said chambers had also power to legislate 
upon purely local affairs, and in this sense they could enact 
laws respecting administrative organization, territorial, provin- 
cial, municipal, or judicial divisions, public health on land and 
sea, public credit, banks, and the monetary system. The insu- 
lar parliament could also legislate upon subjects committed to 
it by the cortes of the kingdom. In this sense it was within 
the powers of the parliament to act from the very beginning 
upon electoral procedure; the formation of the census; the 
qualifications of electors; and the manner of exercising the 
suffrage. This was to be done, however, without interfering 
with the rights of the citizen under the electoral law. It 
was the exclusive prerogative of the insular parliament to 
make the local budget, both in respect to expenditures as well 
as to income, and in regard to the necessary expenses to cover 
such a part of the national budget as belonged to the Island, 
and neither of the colonial chambers could deliberate on the 
colonial budget unless it had already voted finally on that part 
of it referring to the "expenses of sovereignty". It was, on the 
other hand, within the powers of the national cortes to determine 
the expenses which by their nature were "obligatory expenses 
inherent to sovereignty", as well as to fix the amount every 
three years and to state the income necessary to cover it. The 
cortes, however, had the right to change this provision. 

There were in this decree some important provisions which 
are worthy of a literal transcription because they conferred upon 
the colonial government a very important prerogative. These 
provisions read as follows : 



.">.">() THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Art. 37. The negotiation of treaties of commerce affecting the 
Island of Porto Rico, whether they are due to the initiative of the 
insular government or to that of the central government, shall always 
be conducted by the latter, assisted in both cases by special dele- 
gates, duly authorized by the colonial government; and the conform- 
ity of these treaties to what has been agreed upon shall be shown 
when they are laid before the cortes of the kingdom. 

These treaties, if approved by the cortes, shall be published as 
laws of the kingdom, and as such they shall remain in force in the 
Territory of the Island. 

Art. 38. Treaties of commerce, in the negotiations of which the 
insular government shall not have taken part, shall be communicated 
to it when they shall become laws of the kingdom, in order that it 
may, within three months, declare whether it desires to adhere to 
their stipulations or not. In case of its desiring to adhere to them 
the governor general shall publish a statement to that effect in the 
Gazette as a colonial statute. 

Art. 39. It shall further be the duty of the insular parliament 
to prepare the tariff and to designate the duties to be paid on goods, 
both when imported into the territory of the Island and when ex- 
ported therefrom. 

As to the powers and functions of the governor general it 
may be said that, under this decree he was invested with the 
supreme government of the colony, and his appointment was 
made by the king on motion of the council of ministers. In 
his official capacity he exercised, as a vice royal patron, the 
powers inherent in the so-called patronato of the Indies. He had 
the chief command of all the armed forces, both naval and mili- 
tary, in the Island. He was the representative of the ministries 
of state, war, navy, and the colonies. All the authorities of the 
Island were subordinate to him, and he was to be responsible 
for the preservation of order and of the safety of the colony. 
He was also responsible for the publication and execution of all 
laws emanating from Spain, and when, in his judgment, and 
that of the secretaries of his administration, the decisions of 
her majesty's government might cause injury to the general 
interests of the nation, or to the special interests of the Island, 
he was to suspend their publication and execution, making to 



THE GOVERNMENT OF PORTO RICO 551 

the proper ministry a report thereof and of the reasons upon 
which his decision was founded. He was also, among other 
things, to see to it that the rights, powers and privileges recog- 
nized or thereafter to be recognized as belonging to the colonial 
administration, were duly enforced and observed. It was equally 
his duty to sanction and publish the enactments of the insular 
parliament which should be laid before him by the president 
and secretaries of the respective chambers. The veto power of 
the governor was to be exercised in the following manner : 

When the governor general shall consider that an enactment of 
the insular parliament goes beyond the powers of that body, violates 
the rights of citizens which are recognized in Title I of the Constitu- 
tion, or the guarantees fixed by law for the exercise of those rights, 
or jeopardizes the interests of the colony or of the state, he shall 
send the enactment to the council of ministers of the kingdom, which, 
in a period not exceeding two months shall approve it or return it 
to the governor general with a statement of the reasons that it may 
have for objecting to its sanction and promulgation. The insular 
parliament, in view of these reasons, may again deliberate concerning 
the matter and modify the enactment, if it think proper, without 
the necessity of a special proposition. 

If two months shall pass without the central government having 
expressed its opinion concerning an enactment of the chambers that 
shall have been transmitted to it by the governor general, that officer 
shall sanction and promulgate it. 

The governor general had also power to appoint, suspend, and 
remove the employees of the colonial administration, on motion 
of the respective secretaries of the government, according to 
law; and to appoint and remove freely the secretaries of the 
government. No decree of the governor general, however, 
issued in his capacity as representative and head of the colony 
could be carried out unless it were countersigned by a secretary 
of the government, who by this act alone, became responsible 
therefor. 

The secretaries of the government were five, namely: Grace, 
Justice, and Interior; Finance; Public Instruction; Public Works 
and Communication; and Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce. 



552 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW 

The secretary who should be appointed by the governor was to 
be the president. The governor could also appoint a president 
without portfolio. The insular parliament had power to increase 
or diminish the number of secretaries of the government, and 
also to determine the matters belonging to the department of 
each. The secretaries of the government might be members of 
the Chamber of Representatives or of the Council of Admini- 
stration, and take part in the discussions of both bodies; but 
they were to have a vote only in matters pertaining to their 
respective departments ; and they were to be responsible for their 
acts to the insular chambers. 

The governor general could, on the other hand, notwithstand- 
ing the foregoing provisions, act by himself and on his own respon- 
sibility, without granting a hearing to the secretaries of the 
government, in the following cases : 

1) When the question concerns the transmission to the govern- 
ment of the enactments of the insular chambers, especially when 
he considers that the rights guaranteed in Title I of the Constitution 
of the Monarchy or the guarantees provided by law for their exercise 
are violated by those enactments. 

2) When the law relative to public order is to be executed, espe- 
cially if there is no time or any way to consult the central government. 

3) When the question is of the execution and fulfillment of laws 
of the kingdom sanctioned by his majesty, and operative throughout 
Spanish territory or that of its government. 

A law shall provide for the procedure and means of action that 
may be used in such cases by the governor general. 

There were in this decree other provisions relating to the 
municipal and provincial regime, and to guarantees for the 
enforcement of the colonial constitution; and four additional 
articles extending the application of the laws of the kingdom to 
all matters to be acted upon by the insular government pending 
publication of colonial statutes, and providing that the said 
constitution should not be modified except by a law and at the 
request of the insular parliament, etc. There were also other 
provisions of a transient nature intended to facilitate the transi- 
tion from the old system to the new. 



THE GOVERNMENT OF PORTO RICO 553 

It would be perhaps pertinent to add by way of commentary 
on this remarkable piece of legislation, which was made extensive 
to both Porto Rico and Cuba, that while the Cuban patriots 
who were fighting Spain in the manigua rejected it as unworthy 
of their cause, the more conservative autonomistas of Cuba and 
the liberates of Porto Rico accepted it with real contentment as 
they saw in its provisions a rainbow of peace and future develop- 
ment and the dawning of a new era of harmony and better under- 
standing with the old mother country whose colonies she had 
bound to her with the strong bands of a common blood, language, 
customs, laws, religion, and, from many points of view, admirable 
civilization. And yet, when we look back upon our past experi- 
ences and watch the ephemeral results of that Sagastine fusion 6 
which committed the best of Porto Rican leaders to the accept- 
ance of that boasted "autonomy" for the purpose of gaining a 
doubtful control of the government of the Island, we feel an 
indignant regret that this almost posthumous concession of 
Spain was not emphatically rejected by the Porto Rican patriots. 
If they had done so, the American forces would have found in 
Porto Rico a brave and noble people fighting for their independ- 
ence. As it was, they only found a semblance of a Porto Rican 
government and an oppressed conglomerate of people receiving 
them as liberators. 

And what was the result? Alas, it has taken over twenty 
years for the American Congress to begin to get a just conception 
of the Porto Rican people. 

But returning to the consideration of our subject, it must be 
said that while, indeed, this once famous and now almost for- 
gotten Spanish decree of 1897 has been the object of much adverse 
commentary and bitter criticism, and while it has been denounced 
as a mere concoction of the same old military regime which 

6 Reference is here made to a political move made by the late Sefior Muiioz 
Rivera by which a fusion of the Autonomist Party of Porto Rico into the Spanish 
Liberal Party led by Sefior Sagasta was accomplished upon the understanding 
that the Autonomist Party was to be considered as a sort of prolongation of the 
Sagastine Party with the name of "Partido Liberal," under the leadership of 
Sefior Mufioz Rivera, and given governmental support by Sefior Sagasta's party, 
whenever the latter should be in power in Spain. 



554 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW 

practically centralized all power and authority under the gov- 
ernor, and defined as a makeshift calculated to give to the 
new government, which the decree purported to establish, a civil 
appearance, with the pretty garment of a colonial parliament and 
a few provincial frills of Spanish autonomia (which, as a matter 
of fact, was no self-government at all), yet when viewed in a 
dispassionate and calm spirit of justice, it cannot be denied that 
it contained some very liberal provisions. One must recognize 
that, from a Spanish point of view, the decree was really a long 
step toward a wiser policy of colonial administration. Had 
Spain twenty-five years earlier given this same organic act both 
to Porto Rico and to Cuba, which had always been inseparably 
united under the rule of the old mother country, there would have 
been in all probability no real occasion for the intervention of 
the United States in the destinies of these two islands, especially 
if this decree had been supplemented from time to time with 
those changes and additions that experience and the actual neces- 
sities of the situation had shown to be advisable. As it was, 
however, this belated autonomia or self-government of a Spanish 
type failed of its most cherished desires; for it had scarcely been 
put into successful operation when the Spanish-American War 
put an end to Spanish colonial power in America and to Spain's 
improvident, reckless, and disastrous mismanagement of the 
trust which providence had, through the discovery of Columbus 
four centuries before, confided to that country's care. 

ii 

under the foraker act 

With the invasion, occupation, and final acquisition of Porto 
Rico there ensued in the Island three legally different periods of 
military government under the authority of the United States. 
These three different aspects of the military government of Porto 
Rico under American rule have been already discussed by the 
present writer in the American Journal of International Law. 7 
Now we will examine the principal features of the civil govern- 

' Vol. IX, 887-912; vol. X, 318-327. 



THE GOVERNMENT OF PORTO RICO 555 

ment which was established in Porto Rico by the so called Foraker 
Act. 8 It is said that the authorship of the original draft of 
this measure, which bears the name of the late Senator Foraker 
from Ohio, who introduced it into the senate, belongs in reality 
to the Honorable Elihu Root, then secretary of war in the cabinet 
of President Roosevelt, who also it is asserted, prepared some 
time later, in the same capacity, the original draft of the so- 
called Piatt Amendment regulating the relations between the 
United States and Cuba. 

The Foraker Act was, as is quite apparent from its title, 9 a 
merely temporary measure, intended to substitute the existing 
military regime for a civil government, and was indeed the result 
of a rather hasty preparation and of still more hasty amendments 
and reforms made in both Houses of Congress, under the impres- 
sion that Porto Rico was, like the Philippines, not quite fully 
prepared to assume the duties and obligations of a self-governing 
people. Furthermore, when the bill was presented to the senate 
it contained a provision extending to Porto Ricans the privilege 
of American citizenship; but this was left out by the committee 
in charge of the bill, apparently under the impression' that such 
provision would affect the constitutionality of the act in respect 
to certain revenue provisions contained therein. This impres- 
sion, however, was practically destroyed by the effect of the 
doctrine of non-incorporation sustained by the supreme court 
in the now famous insular cases. 10 

Conceived as it was, upon American philosophical theories 
of government, this law at once established, although imper- 
fectly, for the government of the Island the wellknown divisions 
distributing the powers of the government into three distinct 
and separate departments: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. 

Examining somewhat in detail the provisions of the act, we 
notice, in the first place, that it did not concern itself with any 
special declaration of the political status of the Island but speci- 

8 SI U. S. Slat, at Large, p. 77. 

9 "An Act temporarily to provide revenues and a civil government for Porto 
Rico and for other purposes." 

10 American Journal of International Law, July, 1919. 



556 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW 

fically stated that these provisions were to apply to the Island 
of Porto Rico and to the adjacent islands and waters thereof, 
and that the name Porto Rico, as used in the act, was to be held 
as including not only the Island of that name but all the adjacent 
islands as aforesaid. 

Then followed several provisions dealing with the application 
of custom tariffs and internal revenue taxes. An interesting 
feature of these provisions was that the duties and taxes collected 
in Porto Rico in pursuance of the act, less the cost of collecting 
the same, and the gross amount of all collections of duties and 
taxes in the United States upon articles of merchandise coming 
from Porto Rico were not to be covered into the general fund 
of the Treasury of the United States, but were to be held as a 
separate fund at the disposal of the president to be used for 
the government and benefit of Porto Rico until the civil govern- 
ment provided by the act should have been organized, when 
all moneys belonging to this fund not yet expended were to be 
transferred to the local treasury of Porto Rico. And it was 
also provided that as soon as the said civil government should 
have been organized, all collections of duties and taxes in Porto 
Rico under the act should be paid into the treasury of Porto 
Rico for the government and benefit of the Island instead of 
being paid into the Treasury of the United States. It has been 
said that by error in the phraseology of the last provision all 
collections of duties and taxes in the United States upon articles 
of merchandise coming into the United States from the Island 
were excluded from going into the local treasury of Porto Rico. 
The error, if there was one, has been corrected in the more recent 
Jones-Shafroth Act. 11 

The aforesaid provisions of the Foraker Act also contained a 
proviso to the effect that whenever the legislature of Porto Rico 
should have enacted and put into operation a system of local 
taxation to meet the necessities of the government of the Island, 
all tariff duties on merchandise and articles going into Porto 
Rico from the United States or coming into the United States 
from Porto Rico were to cease, and from and after such date all 

11 See infra, p. 570. 



THE GOVERNMENT OF POETO KICO 557 

such merchandise and articles were to be entered at the several 
ports of entry free of duty. This provision was sometime after 
taken advantage of by the legislature of the Island, and Porto 
Rico was thus included in the custom union of the United States. 12 
As regards the status of the inhabitants of the Island, the 
Foraker Act contained the following provision: 

Sec. 7. That all inhabitants continuing to reside therein who 
were Spanish subjects on the eleventh day of April, eighteen hundred 
and ninety-nine, and then resided in Porto Rico, and their children 
born subsequent thereto, shall be deemed and held to be citizens of 
Porto Rico, and as such entitled to the protection of the United 
States, except such as shall have elected to preserve their allegiance 
to the Crown of Spain on or before the eleventh day of April, nineteen 
hundred, in accordance with the provisions of the treaty of peace 
between the United States and Spain entered into on the eleventh 
day of April, eighteen hundred and ninty-nine; and they, together 
with such citizens of the United States as may reside in Porto Rico, 
shall constitute a body politic under the name of The People of Porto 
Rico, with governmental powers as hereinafter conferred, and with 
power to sue and be sued as such. 13 

As to existing laws there were provisions continuing in full 
force and effect all laws and ordinances of Porto Rico then in 
force, except as altered, amended, or modified by the act, or by 
such military orders and decrees in force at the time, and so far 
as the same were not inconsistent or in conflict with the statutory 
laws of the United States not locally inapplicable, until altered, 
amended, or repealed by the legislature of Porto Rico, or by an 
act of congress. There were also some specific exceptions to 

w At the first session of the Legislative Assembly, a revenue act was passed 
known as the Hollander Act, which went into effect February 1, 1901, and on July 
25 1901, President McKinley issued a proclamation in accordance with the pro- 
visions of the Foraker Act, from and after which date free trade has existed be- 
tween the United States and Porto Rico. 

« It has been contended that this provision recognized by implication a Forto 
Rican citizenship based upon a Porto Rican sovereignty. See Jose de Diego, 
Nuevas Campanas. The contention, however, would seem to be founded on an 
erroneous conception of the American system of government, and the clear 
intention of Congress in describing the status of certain classes of the inhabit- 
ants of the Island for purely governmental purposes. 



558 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW 

this provision relating to some old Spanish laws still in force 
such, for instance, as those forbidding the marriage of priests, 
etc., which were specifically repealed. 

Provision was also made for the nationalization of Porto Rican 
vessels and their admission to the coastwise trade of the United 
States, as well as for the exchange of Porto Rican coins then in 
circulation for American money under certain rules and regu- 
lations relating thereto, a provision which, when carried into 
effect, soon afterwards, caused quite a revolution in the economic 
life of the Island and produced a general readjustment and con- 
solidation of public and private wealth and values. 

The act also contained provisions relating to the disposition 
of all property acquired in Porto Rico by the United States 
under the cession by Spain, and extending to Porto Rico such 
statutory laws of the United States as were applicable therein, 
except internal revenue laws which in view of the above pro- 
visions concerning revenues were not to be in force in the Island. 

As concerns the Executive Department, Section 17 of the act 
provided as follows: 

That the official title of the chief executive officer shall be "The 
Governor of Porto Rico." He shall be appointed by the President, 
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; he shall hold his 
office for a term of four years and until his successor is chosen and 
qualifies unless sooner removed by the President; he shall reside in 
Porto Rico during his official incumbency, and shall maintain his 
office at the seat of government; he may grant pardons and reprieves, 
and remit fines and forfeitures for offenses against the laws of Porto 
Rico, and respites for offenses against the laws of the United States, 
until the decision of the President can be ascertained; he shall com- 
mission all officers that he may be authorized to appoint, and may 
veto any legislation enacted, as hereinafter provided; he shall be 
the commander in chief of the militia, and shall at all times faithfully 
execute the laws, and he shall in that behalf have all the powers of 
governors of the Territories of the United States that are not locally 
inapplicable; and he shall annually, and at such other times as he 
may be required, make official report of the transactions of the govern- 
ment in Porto Rico, through the Secretary of State, to the President 
of the United States: Provided, That the President may, in his dis- 



THE GOVERNMENT OF POBTO RICO 559 

cretion, delegate and assign to him such executive duties and functions 
as may in pursuance with law be so delegated and assigned. 

There was also a so-called Executive Council, composed of 
eleven members appointed by the president by and with the 
advice and consent of the Senate of the United States, for the 
term of four years, as follows: A secretary, an attorney general, 
a treasurer, an auditor, a commissioner of the interior, a com- 
missioner of education, and five other persons of good repute. 
It was a specific provision of this act that five at least of the 
members of the executive council should be natives of Porto 
Rico. 

It must be noticed here that the functions of this peculiar 
body were both executive and legislative in nature. As to its 
executive functions it could not perhaps be properly called a 
body, for aside from its executive action under local laws, execu- 
tive functions were, under this act, practically centered in their 
entirety upon the aforementioned officials as duties and powers 
assigned to them in their respective capacities. In the case of 
the death, removal, resignation or disability of the governor, or his 
temporary absence from Porto Rico, the secretary was to succeed 
him in the exercise of all the powers and the performance of all 
the duties of the governor, during such vacancy, disability, or 
absence. All these executive officials were to transmit, through 
the governor to the attorney general, the secretaries of the 
treasury and of the interior and the commissioner of education, 
respectively, such reports concerning their duties as the latter 
might require, which were to be annually transmitted to congress. 
The secretary was also to transmit to the president, the president 
of the Senate, the speaker of the House of Representatives, and 
the secretary of state of the United States, one copy each of the 
laws and journals of each session of the legislative assembly. 
It has been said that the greatest defect and evil of this law 
was to combine in the Executive Council corporate legislative 
powers and individual executive functions in a majority of its 
members, who as heads of departments might be interested in 
a legislative measure and vote upon it to insure or defeat its 



560 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW 

passage, influenced merely by their views as executive officials. 
In this way it has been even charged that these officials often in- 
dulged in mutual concessions and bargainings in matters relating 
to their respective departments in order to insure harmony among 
themselves and thus be able to block all efforts of the people, 
through the House of Delegates, which were their only true repre- 
sentatives, to pass legislation beneficial to Porto Rico but con- 
trary to their own individual interests as heads of such executive 
departments. This was practically admitted by Governor Yager 
in one of the hearings before the Committee on Insular Affairs 
of the House respecting the so called Jones-Shafroth Act which 
is now in force in Porto Rico. Another thing which certainly 
complicated matters and had a very detrimental effect upon the 
people was that the provision relating to the appointment of 
at least five natives of Porto Rico for this Executive Council 
was construed or at least acted upon as if it in substance pre- 
scribed that number not as a minimum but as a maximum ot 
Porto Rican representation in the council, with the result that 
since the acquisition of the Island up to the death of that body, 
under the Jones-Shafroth Act, Porto Ricans were always in 
minority in the council, simply because the administration never 
saw fit to appoint more than the five provided for in the law as 
a minimum. Is it then any wonder that the people should have 
begun to get restless and thoroughly dissatisfied with that body? 
It must be stated, however, that during the present administra- 
tion, Governor Yager, who seems to be a man of largeness of 
mind and heart, of his own volition, and deeming perhaps that 
it was an act of plain justice which could result in nothing but 
great benefit to the Island, recommended to President Wilson 
the appointment of two more Porto Ricans for the Executive 
Council which gave them in that body a proportion of seven 
Porto Ricans as against four Americans, whereas until then it 
had been six Americans as against five Porto Ricans. President 
Wilson approved the recommendation and that relieved some- 
what the situation which was becoming quite intolerable and 
prejudicial. Governor Yager himself has said upon this point: 



THE GOVERNMENT OF PORTO RICO 561 

When I went to Porto Rico, without any definite instructions from 
anybody but just feeling that that would be the proper thing to do, 
I recommended the appointment of two members of the Executive 
Council from among the Porto Ricans who had always heretofore been 
Americans. I selected the men with care and put them into executive 
positions and into the Executive Council. That produced an excellent 
impression in Porto Rico. There is no doubt about that, and I have 
had abundant evidence of it in the last 18 months — that the people 
of the Island generally feel that that was a step toward giving them a 
chance at the highest executive offices, and they appreciated it exceed- 
ingly. Of course, they did not agree with me entirely as to the best 
men. Some of them thought perhaps I could have done better. That 
is always the way, though. Nevertheless, they had the good sense 
and patriotism to see that the principle was the thing they wanted 
and the question of men was a minor matter. They showed good 
sense and judgment. They have appreciated that. 14 

Respecting the Legislative Department, it may be said that 
all local legislative power granted by this law was vested in a 
Legislative Assembly consisting of two houses: one was of course, 
the so-called Executive Council, which was, as we have seen, 
wholly appointive, and the other, a House of Representatives, 
consisting of thirty-five members elected biennially by the quali- 
fied voters of the Island; and the two houses thus constituted 
were designated "The Legislative Assembly of Porto Rico." 

Concerning the qualifications for membership in the Executive 
Council, entire discretion was left to the President and the Senate 
of the United States in the matter of choosing. As to the repre- 
sentatives, there were no specific qualifying restrictions except 
that no person was to be eligible to membership in the House 
of Delegates, who was not twenty-five years of age and able to 
read and write either the Spanish or the English language, or 
who was not possessed in his own right of taxable property, real 
or personal, situated in Porto Rico. These features of the act 
are quite in contrast with the old Spanish autonomia in that the 
qualifying requisites for membership in the insular chambers 

14 Hearings before the Committee on Insular Affairs, House of Representatives, 
64th Cong. First Sess., on H. R. 8501, January 13, 1916. 



562 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW 

under the Spanish law were so numerous and exclusive that 
only few people could aspire to candidacy therefor. Owing, 
however, to the conditions which have been noticed respecting 
the manner of choosing the constituent elements of the Executive 
Council, the people of Porto Rico soon grew to regard the House 
of Representatives, which being an elective body was completely 
controlled by Porto Ricans, as the only truly Porto Rican ele- 
ment in the legislative department of the Island. The provision 
relating to the knowledge of reading and writing of either the 
Spanish or the English language, is rather out of place and 
amusing, but it shows in a measure the mistaken view of Congress 
as to the capacity of the people of Porto Rico in matters of self- 
government. To think that they could elect without this ex- 
temporaneous prohibition for their local legislature persons who 
could not read and write goes beyond any possible conception 
of "incapacity" unless the purpose was, as seems to be the case, 
to prevent the legislature of Porto Rico, which was the final 
arbiter in respect to the qualifications of its own members, to 
oust from its deliberations such Americans as had not learned 
as yet the Spanish language. 

The suffrage under this law was extended, for the first election, 
to all citizens of Porto Rico who had been bona fide residents for 
one year and who possessed the other qualifications of voters 
under the laws and military orders in force on March 1, 1900, 1S 
subject to such modifications and additional qualifications and 
to such regulations and restrictions as to registration as the 
Executive Council might prescribe. 16 As to subsequent elections 
the Legislative Assembly was empowered to provide otherwise. 
Thus at the time of the passage of the present Jones-Shafroth 
Act universal suffrage of male citizens over the age of twenty-one 
years was the rule for the exercise of the franchise in Porto Rico, 
subject to proper provisions respecting registration and other 

16 For an interesting account of elections in Porto Rico, and the qualifications 
of voters under the old Spanish laws, and General Orders of the military gov- 
ernors, see Report of the Military Governor, ut supra, pp. 106-116. 

16 In this connection see First Annual Report of Charles H. Allen, Governor of 
Porto Rico, 1901, pp. 18-21. 



THE GOVERNMENT OF PORTO RICO 563 

matters relating to the conduct of elections and the proper use 
of the ballot. The method of election adopted by the legislature 
of Porto Rico was the Australian method of registration and 
balloting. 

In respect to the legislative powers conferred by this law upon 
the Legislative Assembly of Porto Rico it may be said that its 
powers extended to all matters of. a legislative character not 
locally inapplicable, including the power to create, consolidate, 
and reorganize the municipalities, so far as might be necessary, 
and to provide and repeal laws and ordinances therefor; and 
also to alter, amend, modify, and repeal any and all laws and 
ordinances of every character then in force in Porto Rico; or 
any municipality or district thereof, not inconsistent with the 
provisions of the act, with the proviso that all grants of franchises, 
rights and privileges or concessions of a public nature were to be 
made by the Executive Council, with the approval of the gov- 
ernor, and all franchises granted in Porto Rico were to be reported 
to Congress, which thereby reserved to itself the power to annul 
or modify the same. 

The veto power over the legislature was expressed in the fol- 
lowing provision : 

Sec. 31. That all bills may originate in either house, but no bill 
shall become a law unless it be passed in each house by a majority 
vote of all the members belonging to such house and be approved by 
the governor within ten days thereafter. If, when a bill that has been 
passed is presented to the governor for signature, he approves the 
same, he shall sign it, or if not he shall return it, with his objections, 
to that house in which it originated, which house shall enter his objec- 
tions at large on its journal, and proceed to reconsider the bill. If, 
after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass 
the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other 
house, by which it shall likewise be considered, and if approved by 
two-thirds of that house it shall become a law. But in all such cases 
the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and 
the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered 
upon the journal of each house, respectively. If any bill shall not be 
returned by the governor within ten days (Sundays excepted) after 



564 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW 

it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like 
manner as if he had signed it, unless the legislative assembly by adjourn- 
ment prevent its return, in which case, it shall not be a law. 

This is the veto power as we recognize it in the United States : 
that is to say, the power in the Executive to suspend the validity 
of a law until the legislature has had an opportunity to reconsider 
the measure. There was, however, a proviso to the effect that 
all laws enacted by the Legislative Assembly of Porto Rico were 
to be reported to the Congress of the United States, which thereby 
reserved to itself the power and authority, if deemed advisable, 
to annul the same. The Executive Council, on the other hand, 
acted as a sort of auxiliary in this respect, and all legislation 
originating in the House of Representatives which was opposed 
by the governor was quite sure to be killed by the Executive 
Council, and for this reason that body came to be regarded by 
the people of the Island as a mere instrument or executor of 
the will of the governor, which was pretty much like the old 
way under Spain, of placing in the hands of the governor both 
the executive and legislative functions of government. 

The Judicial Department was constituted under this act of 
the same courts and tribunals already existing in the Island 
whether by virtue of the old Spanish laws or by the general 
orders of the military government. 17 The jurisdiction of these 
courts and the form of procedure in them, and the various 
officials and attaches thereof, respectively, were to be the same 
as defined and prescribed in and by said laws and general orders 
until otherwise provided by law. There was here a proviso to 
the effect that the chief justice and associate justices of the 
Supreme Court and the marshall thereof were to be appointed 
by the president, 18 by and with the advice and consent of the 

17 For an account of the judicial system of Porto Rico under Spain and its 
reorganization under the military regime of the United States, sec Report of the 
Military Governor, ul supra, pp. 65-83. The Supreme Court was created by a 
military order on October 26, 1898, only slightly after the occupation of the 
Island by the military forces of the United States. 

18 As at present constituted this court is composed of five judges, three of 
whom including the chief justice are Porto Ricans, the other two being continental 
Americans. The marshal is also a Porto Rican. 



THE GOVERNMENT OF PORTO RICO 565 

Senate of the United States, and that the judges of the district 
courts were to be appointed by the governor, by and with the 
advice and consent of the Executive Council, and that all other 
officials and attaches of all the other courts were to be chosen 
as might be directed by the legislative assembly which was to 
have authority to legislate from time to time as it might see fit 
with respect to said courts, and pny others which the said legisla- 
ture might deem it advisable to Establish, their organization, and 
number of judges and officials and attaches for each, their juris- 
diction, their procedure, and all other matters affecting them. 
Porto Rico, on the other hand, was to constitute a judicial 
district to be called "the District of Porto Rico". The president, 
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, was to appoint 
a district judge, a district attorney, and a marshall for said dis- 
trict each for a term of four years, unless sooner removed by the 
president. This court, which was to be the successor of a United 
States provisional court established by a military order pro- 
mulgated by General Davis, 19 was to be called the "District 
Court of the United States for Porto Rico," and it had power to 
appoint all such personnel as might be necessary. The juris- 
diction of this court was to extend, in addition to the ordinary 
jurisdiction of district courts of the United States, to all cases cog- 
nizant in the circuit courts of the United States, and was to pro- 
ceed therein in the same manner as a circuit court. 20 It was also 
provided in this respect that the laws of the United States relating 
to appeals, writs of error and certiorari, removal of causes and 
other matters and proceedings as between the courts of the 
United States and the courts of the several States were to govern 
in such matters and proceedings as between the district court 

19 For the organization, purpose, jurisdiction, and procedure of this provisional 
court which came to be known as the Federal Court, see Report of Military Gov- 
ernor, ut supra, p. 74 et seq. 

20 The jurisdiction of this court was enlarged by sec. 3 of a subsequent act of 
Congress, approved March 2, 1901, amending the Foraker Act, so that the latter 
might extend to and embrace controversies in civil cases when the parties, or 
either of them, were citizens of the United States, or citizens or subjects of foreign 
states, wherein the matter in dispute exceeded, exclusive of interest or costs 
the sum or value of one thousand dollars. 31 U. S. Stat, at Large, p. 953. 



566 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW 

of the United States and the court of Porto Rico. All pleadings 
and proceedings in the said district court were to be conducted 
in the English language. 21 

Another provision decreed that writs of error and appeals from 
the final decisions of the Supreme Court of Porto Rico and the 
district court of the United States were to be allowed and might 
be taken to the Supreme Court of the United States in the same 
manner and under the same regulations and in the same cases 
as from the supreme courts of the territories of the United States; 
and in all cases where the constitution of the United States, or 
a treaty thereof, or an act of Congress was brought in question 
and the right claimed thereunder was denied; and the supreme 
and districts courts of Porto Rico and the respective judges there- 
of had power to grant writs of habeas corpus in all cases in which 
the same are grantable by the judges of the district and circuit 
courts of the United States. Here also all such proceedings in 
the Supreme Court of the United States were to be conducted 
in the English language. 

This law contained also a prohibition against the imposition 
of duties on exports from Porto Rico, and a provision authorizing 
the imposition of taxes and assessments on property and license 
fees for franchises, privileges, and concessions, for the purpose 
of the Insular and municipal governments respectively, as might 
be provided and defined by the Legislative Assembly. By this law 
Porto Rico, or any municipal government therein, was author- 
ized when necessary to anticipate taxes and revenues, to issue 
bonds and other obligations, to provide for expenditures author- 
ized by law and to protect the public credit, etc.; but no public 
indebtedness of Porto Rico or any municipality thereof was to 
be authorized or allowed in excess of seven per centum of the 
aggregate valuation of its property. 

Following somewhat the practice established for the territories, 
this law provided for a resident commissioner of Porto Rico to 

21 For obvious reasons the district judge appointed for this court has always 
been an American. Practice in this court has been largely confined to American 
lawyers until recent years when Porto Rican lawyers trained in American univer- 
sities and colleges began to participate therein as well as in many other matters 
relating to the government of the Island. 



THE GOVERNMENT OF PORTO RICO 567 

the United States, who was to be entitled to official recognition 
as such by all departments, upon presentation to the department 
of state of a certificate of election issued by the governor of the 
Island. This resident commissioner was to be elected by the 
qualified voters of Porto Rico every two years, and was to be a 
bona fide resident of the Island, no less than thirty years of age, 
and able to read and write the English language. By the courtesy 
of Congress, and quite outside of this law, he was also accorded 
a seat and voice, but no vote, in the House of Representatives, 
with practically all the same privileges and the same salary 
enjoyed by the regular members of Congress. 

This act became a law on April 12, 1900; but owing to the 
necessary delays connected with the appointment of the officials 
created thereby as well as the final establishment of the new 
machinery provided by the act, it was deemed advisable to 
reorganize the military government in some of its details to 
make it conform to the provisions of the act. And by this 
method the new functionaries, with the exception of the governor 
who had been appointed by the president and was already in 
the Island, were appointed by the military governor, held over 
and continued to perform their duties until their places were 
filled in the manner prescribed by the act. 22 The new govern- 
ment was in this manner inaugurated on May 1, 1900 when the 
executive functions of the government were transferred by the 
last of the military governors, General George W. Davis, U. S. A., 
to the first so-called civil governor of the Island, Hon. Charles 
H. Allen. 23 

As a final commentary upon the effects of this law it may be 
said that another capital defect and evil of the most obnoxious 

22 By a joint resolution of May 1, 1900, the military officers in charge of the 
government of Porto Rico were empowered to fill the civil positions created by 
this act, which was of course intended to permit such officers to continue exer- 
cising the functions of the government until the new executive officers created 
by the act should be appointed and qualify. By this resolution were also intro- 
duced some amendments relating to grants of franchises, privileges, etc. SI U. S. 
Stat, at Large, pp. 717-718. 

23 For an account of the establishment and working of the new civil govern- 
ment of the Island under this law, see Report of the Military Governor, ut supra, 
pp. 56-57, and Reports of the Governors of Porto Rico, 1901-1917. 



."il.S THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW 

nature of its provisions was that practically all executive officials, 
including the governor and members of the Executive Council, 
judges, and nearly all public functionaries from the highest rank 
to the lowest, were purely appointive positions controlled either 
by the president, by the Executive Council or by the governor, 
with the result that the people of Porto Rico had no voice on 
the designation of the persons who were to serve theoretically 
as their servants and practically as their masters in the adminis- 
tration of their government. It is no wonder therefore that 
Porto Ricans as a rule should have been practically ousted and 
excluded from the higher positions in that government, and that 
on account of that atavic and ever-present tendency of men 
everywhere to show preference for those of their own kind, nation- 
ality, or breed, Americans were as a rule preferred. And the 
pretext was always the same: Porto Ricans were not prepared; 
they were not fit to exercise the powers and perform the duties 
connected with those higher offices which controlled the manage- 
ment and direction of their own affairs and goverkmoat. The" 
result of all this was that there came an ever-increasing influx 
of carpet-baggers into the Island who sought to belittle and 
obscure Porto Ricans to the end of preserving to themselves or 
their American favorites the benefits of the Porto Rican treasury 
and the honor and prerogatives belonging and appertaining to the 
higher offices of the insular government. And while it is undoubt- 
edly true that many learned and honored Americans who came 
to the Island have rendered noble and distinguished service to 
Porto Rico, yet illustrious and competent Porto Ricans were 
thrown back into undeserved obscurity and branded as incompe- 
tent, as incapable, as unprepared to assume the sacred duties 
and obligations of their own government, while obscure and even 
disqualified and incompetent Americans were placed in positions 
of responsibility and trust. Is it then any wonder that there 
should have developed in the Island a strong public sentiment 
against this system which made possible all this exclusion, and 
misrepresentation, and all this imposition and abuse? Is it then 
any wonder that some Porto Ricans should have come, as a 
consequence of these things, to regard American sovereignty over 



THE GOVERNMENT OF PORTO RICO 569 

the Island as nothing more or less than the personification of a 
new master still more formidable than Spain? And when the 
constant failure of the repeated efforts of Porto Ricans to have 
Congress correct these terrible errors is considered, is there any 
wonder that the more excitable and the more impatient should 
have begun to talk of despotism and independence and regard 
those Americans who went to Porto Rico to profit by their 
misfortunes and conditions of political inferiority and pretention, 
not as real friends or fellow Americans, but rather as office seekers 
and despoilers of their government, of their wealth, of their 
prestige, and of their faith? 

And yet during all those years of political trials and tribula- 
tions the saner Porto Rican elements did not lose their faith 
and trust in the American people: they knew that this great 
and noble and generous nation would some day begin to do them 
justice. That law, the Foraker Act, was only a temporary 
measure: it was not the final word of the American Congress. 
Some day that law would have to be revised and amended or 
completely superseded by some other measure. Some day the 
American people would have to consider Porto Rico and render 
it complete justice. And the counsel and example of these 
saner men prevailed throughout the Island. And the people 
sat tight and waited, waited bravely, courageously, for nearly 
twenty years, until at last one day Congress saw fit to pass 
another organic act for the Island. Whether or not this new 
organic act fulfilled and satisfied completely the aspirations 
of the Porto Rican people will be considered later. For the 
present we must add that in spite of its excessive conserva- 
tiveness and glaring defects, the Foraker Act was undisputably 
an admirable measure. Under its provisions Porto Rico accom- 
plished more than could really have been expected. As a provis- 
ional measure, the Foraker Act will always stand as a monument 
to American ability and statesmanship, in framing, without 
previous experience in colonial matters, a law so well calculated 
to obviate and avoid the ominous dangers attending that difficult 
period of transition from the oppressive, degrading, and ruinous 
domination of Spain to the liberal, uplifting, and prosperous 



570 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW 

rule of the United States. And let it be said loudly, under its 
provisions Porto Rico has developed politically, socially, econom- 
ically, and in every possible sense, to such an extent that it 
might not be recognized today by those who beheld it languishing 
under the sovereignty of Spain. The greatest mistake, however, 
was to let it endure so long. 24 However wise its provisions might 
have been at first, in later years they were productive of much 
mischief. Had it been superseded earlier by a more appropriate 
measure, the Foraker Act would today deserve only favorable 
comment and praise. As it was, it must be criticised, and much 
of the good in it was in great measure destroyed, not so much 
perhaps from a lack of elasticity and adaptability to the new 
conditions which had developed in the Island, as from the inflex- 
ible ultraconservative interpretation given to its terms by the 
American administration during so many years of congressional 
indifference, procrastination, and delay. 

in 

THE PRESENT JONES-SHAFROTH ACT: A MEASURE OF RELATIVE 
SELF-GOVERNMENT FOR PORTO RICO 

Although the procrastinating and fateful "maiiana" of the 
Spaniards seemed to have contaminated Congress in respect to 
the enactment of more appropriate legislation for Porto Rico, 
after more than four years of dilly-dallying in the consideration 
of no less than four different bills 25 which were repeatedly intro- 

24 By an act of Congress approved July 15, 1909 (36 U. S. Stat at Large, p. 11) 
two important amendments were introduced in this act: one providing that the 
general appropriations for any fiscal year for which the legislature fails to pass 
an appropriation measure shall be the same as in the previous year; and the 
other prescribing that all reports required by law to be made by the governor 
or members of the executive council to any official in the United States shall be 
made to an executive department of the government of the United States desig- 
nated by the president, and the president is thereby authorized to place all 
matters pertaining to the governor of Porto Rico in the jurisdiction of such depart- 
ment. The War Department, theoretically, but practically the Bureau of Insular 
Affairs as a branch of that department and at present constituted as a sort of 
Ministry of the Colonies, has at present entire charge of Porto Rican affairs. 

" Two of these bills originated in the senate, and the other two in the House. 
They were introduced respectively by Senators Shafroth of Colorado and Sauls- 



THE GOVERNMENT OF PORTO RICO 571 

duced in both houses of Congress, and after many hearings, 
discussions, and comments upon the same without any practical 
results, at last a new organic law was passed by Congress, 26 the 
title of which is as follows: "An Act to provide a Civil Govern- 
ment for Porto Rico and for other purposes." This law, which 
was approved on March 2, 1917, was the result or combination 
of two bills introduced respectively in the House of Representa- 
tives and the Senate by Representative William A. Jones of 
Virginia and Senator John F. Shafroth of Colorado: hence the 
actual name given to this law, " Jones-Shafroth Act". 

Much has been said in respect to the authorship of this act, 
but as a matter of fact it may be stated that whoever may have 
planned its general scheme and purpose, it suffered so many 
modifications and amendments by so many suggestions coming 
from so many sources, that in justice to all it could be scarcely 
called anything else than the offspring of many minds and of 
many hearts. 

Mr. Jones and Mr. Shafroth undoubtedly are entitled to a 
good share of the credit for it; but so are also the Hon. Arthur 
Yager, the present governor of Porto Rico, and General Mclntyre 
and Colonel Walcutt, both of the Bureau of Insular Affairs. Not 
the least credit and praise for this measure were undoubtedly 
due to the Hon. Resident Commissioner of Porto Rico, the late 
Senor Luis Munoz Rivera, who was also the author of another 
bill, which was killed in committee because of its more radical 
features. Entitled to credit are also a good many Porto Ricans 
and distinguished Americans who either in some official or even 
purely personal capacity, or as representatives or members of 
commissions representing the different political parties of the 
Island, contributed with their suggestions and proposed amend- 
ments and modifications to give to the said measure its present 
acceptable form. 

bury of Delaware, Eepresentative Jones of Virginia, and Resident Commissioner 
Munoz Rivera, of Porto Rico. The Saulsbury bill proposed to make Porto Rico 
an incorporated territory of the United States and was killed in committee; 
Sefior Mufioz Rivera's bill provided for complete self-government for the Island 
and shared the same fate as the Saulsbury bill. The Shafroth and the Jones bill 
were finally combined into the present Jones-Shafroth Act. 

26 The Jones-Shafroth Act, Public No. 368, 64th Cong. H. R. 9533. 



572 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW 

Owing to the great length and importance of this measure 
and in order to avoid a misconception or misinterpretation of 
its terms, which might be the result of making a condensed state- 
ment of them, we will content ourselves with giving here a general 
outline of its principal features, referring the reader, who may 
be interested in knowing its exact provisions, to the text of this 
law. 27 

In examining this law, the first thing we notice is that, like 
the old Foraker Act, it does not concern itself with a determina- 
tion of the status of the Island, evidently preferring to leave it 
in the same condition that it was theretofore, namely, as declared 
by the Supreme Court in the consideration of the famous insular 
cases, which we have quite extensively reviewed. 28 

Then follows a "Bill of Rights" in which are included a good 
many matters which ought to have been left to the legislature of 
Porto Rico to determine. The insertion of this "Bill of Rights" 
of course carries with it in a good many provisions the implica- 
tion that the Constitution is not to be considered as in force in 
the Island, at least to the extent that it is not absolutely control- 
ling the action of Congress therein; for if there had been an 
opposite intention, it would have been enough to make a declara- 
tion to that effect, without the necessity of including in it a few 
provisions of that instrument relating to the rights and guaranties 
of the citizen thereunder. 

The most important feature of this law is in respect to the 
political status of the inhabitants of the Island. By it, it is 
declared that all citizens of Porto Rico, as defined by the old 
Foraker Act, and other Porto Ricans, who by a defect in the 
drafting of that law, were excluded from Porto Rican citizenship, 
are citizens of the United States. There is also a proviso by 
which any of the above persons described by this law may retain 
his old political status by making a declaration to that effect 
before a competent court within a certain time from the taking 
effect of the act. This proviso was of course intended to prevent 

27 See above, note 26. 

18 American Journal of International Law; vol. X, pp. 317-327, see also July, 
1919. 



THE GOVERNMENT OF PORTO RICO 573 

any one from contending that American citizenship had been 
forced upon him against his will or consent, because under its 
terms he could decline to receive this citizenship by simply 
making a formal declaration to that effect in the manner pre- 
scribed by law. It may be said, however, that the number of 
persons who availed themselves of this proviso is so small that 
it can scarcely be considered as of any particular importance. 
According to the report of the governor of Porto Rico to the 
secretary of war for the year 1917, not more than 290 persons 
for the whole Island made renunciation of American citizenship ; 
while on the other hand more than 800 persons born in Porto 
Rico of alien parents have voluntarily availed themselves of an- 
other provision of the act permitting them to become American 
citizens by a sworn declaration of allegiance to the United States. 
Another characteristic feature of this act is that the divisions 
pertaining to the powers of the government are more precisely 
marked out and established than in the old Foraker Act as be- 
tween the executive and legislative departments. Under this 
law the executive power is vested in the governor who has general 
supervision and control of all the departments and bureaus of 
the government and is responsible for the execution of the laws 
of Porto Rico and of the United States applicable in the Island. 
There are also created by this law six executive departments 
called respectively: Justice, Finance, Interior, Education, Agri- 
culture and Labor, and Health. The heads of these several 
departments, who are designated as the attorney general, the 
treasurer, and the commissioners of the interior, education, agri- 
culture and labor, and health, respectively, form, in a collective 
capacity, a council to the governor, known as the Executive 
Council. Of all these executive officials, the governor, the attor- 
ney general and the commissioner of education are appointed 
by the president, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate of the United States; the heads of the four remaining 
departments, that is to say, the treasurer, the commissioner of 
the interior, the commissioner of agriculture and labor, and the 
commissioner of health being appointed by the governor, by 
and with the advice and consent of the Senate of Porto Rico. 



574 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW 

The powers, duties, and obligations of each of all these executive 
officials are specifically set out and provided in this law, and 
will not be repeated here. Attention, however, must be called 
to the very extraordinary powers given to the commissioner of 
education, who not only has authority to superintend public 
instruction throughout the Island, but all proposed disburse- 
ments on account thereof must be approved by him, and all 
courses of study must be "prepared" by him, subject to dis- 
approval by the governor if he desires to act. The commissioner 
of education is also to prepare rules governing the selection of 
teachers, and their appointment by local school boards is to 
be subject to his approval. 

The reasons of these provisions are not indeed very apparent; 
but a clue to their discovery may be found, perhaps, in the fact 
that under the old Foraker Act the educational policy of the 
Island was under the practical control of American officials 
through a constant majority of Americans in the Executive 
Council; whereas, under the present organic act, this control, 
except for the terms of the above provisions, would pass to the 
hands of Porto Ricans through the Legislative Assembly which is 
entirely composed of Porto Ricans and should have competent 
jurisdiction to regulate these matters. It would seem therefore, 
that the idea was to preserve the control of the educational 
policy of the Island in the hands of an American official. 

There is no doubt, therefore, that this idea may have been 
inspired in the belief that an American educator appointed by 
the president for this office would probably be better qualified 
than any Porto Rican for the all important task of mapping 
out an educational policy which should promote a rapid American- 
ization of the Island and its inhabitants. For this purpose, it 
seems to have been the idea of Congress that the said official 
should not be handicapped in his plans by the interference of the 
local legislators whose points of view in respect to pedagogical 
and Americanization matters might not be entirely in accord 
with those of the said official. 

It would seem, however, that there are involved in this matter 
a good many questions which undoubtedly require a proper 



THE GOVEKNMENT OF PORTO RICO 575 

regard for the opinions and sentiments of the Porto Rican people; 
furthermore, in dealing with Porto Rico's problems in a spirit 
of fairness and justice, the fact should not be forgotten that the 
unprecedented success of the American administration in the 
Island, not only in this all important matter of education, but 
also in all other matters pertaining to the government of Porto 
Rico, has been made possible by the constant and efficient col- 
laboration of Porto Ricans, and it is indeed rather unjust and 
impolitic to discourage their collaboration in a matter which is 
so near to their hearts and so important for their future progress 
and development. This policy of exclusion can arouse nothing 
but resentment, opposition, and distrust. In regard to such an 
important matter for the Porto Rican people as public education 
is, no one can be more interested than the Porto Rican people 
themselves. This has been shown beyond the pale of a reasonable 
doubt by their unequivocal and resolute determination to place 
education above everything else in Porto Rico. The question 
of Americanization is perhaps premature, at least in so far as 
American public opinion has not as yet crystallized as to the 
future destiny of Porto Rico; and to place this serious matter 
of education in the hands of a single man unacquainted with 
Porto Rican conditions and needs, just because he must be an 
American, entails the risk of mere experimenting, and the diffi- 
culty with this is that neither Porto Rico nor the United States 
can indulge in this sort of thing, as experiments are generally 
costly and in the long run may retard the educational advance- 
ment of the Island. In this connection it may not be entirely 
amiss to consider also that the expenses of public education in 
Porto Rico are not paid, as many assume to believe, out of the 
Treasury of the United States, but are defrayed by the public 
treasury of the Island. On the other hand, Congress might 
render a much greater service to Porto Rico and promote the 
cause of a rapid Americanization of the Island more efficiently 
by appropriating an adequate sum of money — say, four or five 
million dollars every year — to help the Porto Rican educational 
establishment, for the construction of new school houses in the 
rural districts and small towns, and to increase the number of 



576 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW 

teachers, which is what Porto Rico most urgently needs in this 
respect. 

There is also created by this act an auditor, appointed by the 
president of the United States, who has the general control of 
all accounts pertaining to revenues and receipts, from whatever 
source, of the government of Porto Rico and of the municipal 
governments of the Island. It is the duty of this official whose 
office is under the general supervision of the governor, among 
other things, to bring to the attention of the proper administrative 
officer, expenditures of funds or property which, in his opinion, 
are irregular, unnecessary, excessive, or extravagant, and his 
decisions are final, except that any person aggrieved by this 
action or decision in the settlement of his account or claim may 
take an appeal to the governor within a specified time. The 
decision of the governor in such cases is final, subject to such 
right of action as may be otherwise provided by law. This 
provision would seem to be in keeping with the general treasury 
policy of the United States by which the decision of the auditor 
is subject to revision by the controller of the treasury, whose 
decision is final, the governor, in the case of Porto Rico assuming 
the role of the controller of the treasury, and the aggrieved party 
having the right to sue, if that should be allowed by the Legisla- 
ture of Porto Rico, or general law. It is to be observed, however, 
that in the matter of allowing or refusing to allow money to be 
drawn from the Porto Rican Treasury upon his own interpreta- 
tion of existing laws, there is always the danger of a too narrow 
construction of the organic law of the Island by the auditor, in 
respect to the appropriation powers of the local legislature 
under the said law, and the consequent conflict of opinion and 
friction between him and the said legislature. This has been 
already shown in several instances, and will probably continue 
to be shown in many others, unless some effective means are 
devised to prevent its repetition. 

There is also created by this law an executive secretary who 
is to be appointed by the governor and whose executive duties 
greatly resemble those of the secretary of Porto Rico under the 
old law, except that in the case of absence or of accidental vacancy 



THE GOVERNMENT OF PORTO RICO 577 

in the office of governor, he is not the official to assume its place, 
but the president may from time to time designate the head 
of an executive department of Porto Rico to act as governor 
in such a case. 

A further characteristic feature of the Jones-Shafroth Act is 
as already suggested, the creation of an elective Senate which is 
to exercise all of the purely legislative functions which belonged 
to the old Executive Council under the Foraker Act, including 
confirmation of appointments and such other powers and author- 
ity as are conferred upon it by the present Organic Act. As 
to the House of Representatives it is now established much 
along the same lines as in the former law. The qualifications 
for membership in the Senate are not at all restrictive, the only 
provision in this respect being that "no person shall be a member 
of the Senate of Porto Rico who is not over thirty years of age, 
and who is not able to read and write either the Spanish or 
English language, and who has not been a resident of Porto 
Rico for at least two consecutive years, and, except in the case 
of Senators at large, an actual resident of the senatorial district 
from which chosen for a period of at least one year prior to his 
election". The same provision practically applies to member- 
ship in the House of Representatives except that the age limit 
is fixed at twenty-five instead of thirty years as in the Senate; 
and the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively, are 
the sole judges of the elections, returns, and qualifications of 
their members, and exercise all the powers with respect to their 
proceedings which usually appertain to parliamentary legislative 
bodies. 

The electoral franchise or suffrage under this law is subject 
to a double provision, dealing with the first election held pursuant 
to this act, when the qualified electors were those having the 
qualifications of voters under the old laws, 29 and with successive 
elections when the voters shall be citizens of the United States, 
twenty-one years of age or over and have such additional qualifi- 
cations as may be prescribed by the Legislature of Porto Rico, 

29 See above pp. 562-563 and notes 15 and 16. 



578 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW 

with the proviso that no property qualification shall ever be 
imposed upon or required of any voter. 

The Legislature under this law is to meet biennially for an 
unlimited period, but there are some provisions relating to the 
salaries of its members which would seem to tend to limit its 
sessions to a period of ninety days. The governor, however, 
may call special sessions of the Legislature or of the Senate at 
any time when in his opinion the public interest may so require, 
but no special session is to extend beyond the period of ten days, 
and no measure can be considered at such session other than 
that specified in the call. 

Respecting the legislative powers there are to be found a 
good many restrictions which are deemed by many Porto Ricans 
to be quite unnecessary and even a curtailment of the powers 
enjoyed by the Legislature under the old Foraker Act. On the 
whole, however, these restrictions, in many cases will be found 
in the last analysis to be quite salutary and wise. As to others 
it may be said that they are the result of mere prejudice or of 
a lack of real information as to the actual conditions prevailing 
in the Island. 

As to the veto power the provisions of this act are worthy of 
special notice, because they involve quite a departure from the 
generally accepted theory of that power. The pertinent portion 
of those provisions are as follows : 

. . . . No bill shall become a law until it be passed in each 
house by a majority yea-and-nay vote of all of the members belonging 
to such house and entered upon the journal and be approved by the 
governor within ten days thereafter. If when a bill that has been 
passed is presented to the governor for his signature he approves the 
same, he shall sign it; or if not, he shall return it, with his objections, 
to the house in which it originated, which house shall enter his objections 
at large on its journal and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such 
reconsideration, two-thirds of all the members of that house shall agree 
to pass the same it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the 
other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved 
by two-thirds of all the members of that house it shall be sent to the 
governor, who, in case he shall then not approve, shall transmit the 



THE GOVERNMENT OF PORTO RICO 579 

same to the President of the United States. The vote of each house 
shall be by yeas and nays, and the names of the members voting for 
and against shall be entered on the journal. If the President of the 
United States approves the same he shall sign it and it shall become 
a law. If he shall not approve same he shall return it to the governor 
so stating, and it shall not become a law; Provided, That the President 
of the United States shall approve or disapprove an Act submitted to 
him under the provisions of this section within ninety days from and 
after its submission for his approval; and if not approved within 
such time it shall become a law the same as if it had been specifically 
approved. If any bill presented to the governor contains several items 
of appropriation of money, he may object to one or more of such items, 
or any part or parts, portion or portions thereof, while approving of 
the other portion of the bill. In such case he shall append to the bill, 
at the time of signing it, a statement of the items, parts or portions 
thereof to which he objects, and the appropriation so objected to 
shall not take effect. If any bill shall not be returned by the governor 
within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented 
to him, it shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless 
the legislature by adjournment prevents its return, in which case it 
shall be a law if signed by the governor within thirty days after receipt 
by him ; otherwise it shall not be a law. All laws enacted by the Legisla- 
ture of Porto Rico shall be reported to the Congress of the United 
States as provided in section twenty-three of this Act, which hereby 
reserved the power and authority to annul the same 

So far as referring the bill to the president in the case of a 
disagreement between the governor and the Legislature is con- 
cerned, this provision is the result of a compromise. As it will 
be remembered, under the old Foraker Act the veto power had 
merely the effect of suspending the passage of a law until the 
legislature should have an opportunity to reconsider the measure 
upon the reasons submitted by the governor, but that at all 
events the bill was to become a law if the legislature persisted 
in its adoption as such in spite of the objections made to it by 
the executive. In the original drafting of the new organic act 
it was proposed to give to the governor power to veto absolutely 
any law that he should see fit against the wishes of the Legisla- 
ture. In support of this absolute veto power in the governor 



580 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW 

it was contended that under the old Foraker Act the legislative 
power was partly in the hands of the Executive Council which 
could be more or less influenced by the governor and which 
until later years was effectively controlled by Americans whereas 
the said legislative power was now vested in the Legislature of 
Porto Rico which must be entirely controlled by Porto Ricans 
by reason of its being elective, and therefore that some check 
must be created to prevent any misuse or abuse of those powers. 
Aside from the unreasonableness and prejudice of this contention, 
it was argued on the other side that this absolute veto power in 
the governor would render nugatory all the legislative powers 
of the Porto Rican Legislature and place them virtually into 
the hands of the governor who could by the exercise of this 
autocratic veto power impose entirely his will, in all legislative 
matters, upon the people, and thereby cause great dissatisfaction, 
unrest, and even conflicts of a very serious nature. To this it 
may be added that in view of the honorable and successful 
legislative record of Porto Ricans in the House of Representatives, 
which has been entirely Porto Rican since the establishment of the 
civil government of Porto Rico under the Foraker Act, and in the 
Executive Council at least since they were in majority in that 
body, there should not have been any cause for misapprehension, 
prejudice, or mistrust. But the reactionary elements were bent 
on prevailing at all eA'ents, and thus, those who better under- 
stood the character, patriotism, ability, and temper of the 
Porto Rican people, although fully realizing the injustice and 
impracticability of the thing, suggested, as a compromise, that 
in case of the said disagreement between the governor and the 
Legislature of the Island, the measure in dispute should be 
referred to the president of the United States. This somewhat 
resembles the procedure under the old Spanish autonomy. 

It would be quite interesting to follow step by step the dis- 
cussion of all this section of the Jones-Shafroth Act referring to 
the veto-power and approval or disapproval of the laws enacted 
by the Legislature in accordance with the assumed purpose of 
the act to give a larger measure of self-government to the Island, 
but such a discussion would be quite impracticable from the 



THE GOVERNMENT OF PORTO RICO 581 

standpoint of space. Attention, however, will be called to the 
anomalous feature relating to the budget of receipts and expendi- 
tures, which is to be prepared and submitted to the Legislature 
by the governor as the basis for the ensuing biennial appropri- 
ation bill. It will be noticed that when this bill is presented 
to him for his signature he may object to one or more of the 
items of appropriation, or any part or parts thereof, while approv- 
ing the other portions of the bill, so that those items which he 
disapproves shall not take effect. To any unprejudiced and 
liberal mind this must necessarily appeal as a glaring outrage, 
for under these provisions the governor is empowered practically 
to dictate a budget of receipts and expenditures to the Porto 
Rican people, without the sanction of their Legislature. 

Worthy of notice are also the provisions of this act creating 
a public service commission, consisting of the heads of executive 
departments, the auditor and two elective commissioners. This 
commission is to make all grants of franchises, rights, and privi- 
leges of a public or quasi public nature, and is also empowered 
and directed to discharge all the executive functions relating to 
public service corporations theretofore conferred by law upon 
the old executive council. Franchises, rights, and privileges 
granted by the said commission are not effective until approved 
by the governor, and they are to be reported to congress, which 
reserves the power to annul or modify the same. 

As to Porto Rican representation in Congress the provisions 
of this act resemble those of the old Foraker Act relating to 
the subject except that the term of incumbency for the resident 
commissioner shall be four years, and no person is to be eligible 
to election as such resident commissioner who is not a bona fide 
citizen of the United States, and who is less than twenty-five 
years of age, instead of thirty as under the Foraker Act. And 
in case of a vacancy in the office of resident commissioner by 
death, resignation, or otherwise, the governor, by and with the 
advice and consent of the Senate is to appoint a substitute for 
the unexpired term. This later provision is an improvement 
upon the Foraker Act, as under that law, in case of an accidental 
vacancy in the office of resident commissioner, there was no 



582 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW 

provision made for filling it until the next election. This pre- 
cisely happened while the Jones-Shafroth Act was pending owing 
to the premature death of the incumbent, the Honorable Luis 
Munoz Rivera, when Porto Rico was entirely bereft of official 
representation in Congress until the election, nearly one year 
later, of the present incumbent under the Jones-Shafroth Act. 

It seems almost incredible that the representation of Porto 
Rico should not have been increased under this act but left in 
the same condition as before, namely, limited to a single resident 
commissioner, when the Island has a population of nearly a 
million and a quarter of inhabitants which is larger than double, 
triple, and even quadruple the population of some states of the 
union. And when this representation is compared with sixteen 
Representatives and three Senators which Porto Rico was en- 
titled, under the Spanish rule, to send to the Cortes of the King- 
dom of Spain, it would seem that the Jones-Shafroth Act might 
have been a little more generous and considerate of the sentiments 
of the islanders and accord to Porto Rico one or two more dele- 
gates with seats and voice in both houses of Congress until a 
definite solution should be given to the Porto Rican problem. 

As to the Judicial Department, it may be said that the Jones- 
Shafroth Act leaves its organization practically as it was under 
the former organic law, except that the jurisdiction of the federal 
court is so modified and enlarged as to extend to and embrace 
all controversies where all of the parties on either side of the 
controversy are citizens or subjects of a foreign state or states, 
or citizens of a state, territory, or district of the United States 
not domiciled in Porto Rico, wherein the matter in dispute 
exceeds, exclusive of interest or costs, the sum or value of three 
thousand dollars, and of all controversies in which there is a 
separable controversy involving such jurisdictional amount and 
in which all of the parties on either side of such separable con- 
troversy are citizens or subjects of the character aforesaid. Al- 
though a great deal of opposition has been manifested in the 
Island 30 against this extraordinary jurisdiction of the federal 

80 See statements of Senor Rodriguez Serra and Sefior Barcel6 in Hearings 
before the Com. on Pacific Islands and Porto Rico, U. S. 56th Cong., 1st Sess., on 
S. 1217, pp. 33, 44. 



THE GOVERNMENT OF PORTO RICO 583 

court, it cannot be denied that it is quite in keeping with the 
principles involved in the diverse citizenship clause in the consti- 
tution of the United States, a principle most salutary and benefi- 
cent, especially so in the case of Porto Rico, if it is intended to 
overcome the objections and legitimate desires of all such Ameri- 
cans and foreigners who have not as yet, by long and permanent 
residence in the Island, become acquainted with general con- 
ditions there and acquired an implicit reliance on the wisdom 
and absolute integrity of the Porto Rican courts. 

On the whole it may be said with respect to this act that its 
general provisions constitute quite a large improvement on the 
old Foraker Act, especially with respect to the status of Porto 
Ricans, the divisions of governmental powers, the establishment 
of an elective Senate and a public service commission, although 
the powers of the latter are perhaps a little excessive and in 
some respects might have been placed in the hands of the Legisla- 
ture of the Island. 

The powers of the governor are no doubt unnecessarily exces- 
sive, specially, with respect to the veto power, which in its present 
form is practically absolute, since an appeal to the president 
will seldom if ever be taken by the legislature for reasons which 
will be quite obvious to any impartial observer of matters of 
this kind. It may be conjectured, however, that these powers 
of the governor may become a harmless weapon in his hand if 
he realizes the self-evident proposition that Porto Rican problems 
are not always susceptible of an American solution but as a 
general rule must be worked out and solved by the Porto Ricans 
themselves in a Porto Rican way, and that his mission at least 
in such cases, is more in the nature of a steadying power, a sort 
of regulator in local conflicts of opinion and opposite views, his 
role as a rule being that of a friendly adviser and counselor 
rather than that of a dictator or overbearing schoolmaster bent 
on imposing his own personal views based on a purely American 
conception of the situation in hand; otherwise there will be 
always the danger of unnecessary misunderstandings and friction 
between the governor and the Legislature of the Island. Thus 
far, however, whenever any controversy has arisen between them 



584 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW 

it has been completely smoothed out, owing in the first place to 
the patriotic spirit animating all the elements concerned, and 
then to the level headedness of both Governor Yager and the 
leaders of the Legislature of Porto Rico, without regard to party 
politics, who have united in a commendable effort to collaborate 
and work together, with the greatest possible harmony, for the 
complete success of this new experiment in self government for 
the Island. 

In conclusion, it may be observed that under the provisions 
of this act, a large share of the government of the Island is 
placed in the hands of the Porto Ricans themselves, and as the 
president, in the exercise of the appointing powers granted to 
him by this law, may if he so deem it advisable and proper, 
select Porto Ricans for the office of governor, attorney general, 
commissioner of education, auditor, and all other appointive 
positions entrusted to his judgment and discretion to fill by and 
with the advice and consent of the Senate, or otherwise, it is 
apparent that a much larger measure of self-government may 
be confided to Porto Ricans under this law. 31 In this sense, there- 
fore, this act while still conservative may yet be made much 

31 There is at the present time a strong movement in Porto Rico in favor of 
having the President appoint a Porto Rican for the office of Attorney General 
and another for Governor of Porto Rico. As to the office of Governor of the 
Island, it may be said that while some Porto Rican politicians insist that it 
should be made an elective office, others more conservative or less sanguine of 
radical changes, would prefer to make haste slowly and experiment first by 
having a Porto Rican appointed instead of an American as heretofore. The 
advantages of following this procedure at least for a time are quite obvious and 
should not be disregarded. Any unprejudiced observer can readily see that, by 
appointing a Porto Rican for this office a high compliment would be paid to the 
ability and preparation of Porto Ricans for self government, while at the same 
time the Porto Rican Governor would be placed beyond the reach and control 
of the political parties of the Island, and thus while the chances for corruption 
and abuse of power would be minimized, he could feel entirely at liberty to act 
independently from party politics and do as he should see fit in accordance with 
the duties of his office and the dictates of his conscience. The people on the 
other hand would continue to regard this office as the highest representation of 
American sovereignty besides the flag, and at the same time would learn to 
regard him not only as the personification of the highest Porto Rican executive 
authority in the Island, but also as the emblem of Porto Rican capacity for 
self government. 



THE GOVERNMENT OF PORTO RICO 585 

more liberal by the action of the president, to whom, therefore, 
Porto Ricans must look in this respect for a substantial increase 
of their share in the government of the Island, at least for the 
present, until Congress shall see fit to legislate less conservatively 

and more liberally for Porto Rico. 

Pedro Capo-Rodriguez. 



